Please help! What happened to these chocolates?

[Delartful Delights]

Hi everyone,

I'm very new to making chocolates, and have had pretty good success in the past. Apart from these heart chocolates. I am wondering why it looks like little chips are out of the chocolate shells????

It's the first time I have used the mould, polished it before I used it... I dusted the moulds with the red dust first - and it looks like the dust have been left in the moulds where it looks like the chocolates are chipped

Any ideas on why this might have happened?

Thanks so much in advance,

Danni

[chiantiglace]

Hi everyone,

I'm very new to making chocolates, and have had pretty good success in the past.  Apart from these heart chocolates.  I am wondering why it looks like little chips are out of the chocolate shells???? 

It's the first time I have used the mould, polished it before I used it... I dusted the moulds with the red dust first - and it looks like the dust have been left in the moulds where it looks like the chocolates are chipped 

Any ideas on why this might have happened?

Thanks so much in advance,

Danni

←

Its simple, you didn't get the air out of the chocolate.

Vigorously tape the mould on the table before flipping out excess chocolate. Those chips are where air pockets resided under the weight of the chocolate.

[baking.stoned]

i'd suggest that the chocolate was too thick when added to the molds. vibration isn't really meant to eliminate large air pockets like the ones you experienced, but instead to remove small bubbles from the chocolate.

two reasons why the chocolate was too thick....either your working temperature was too cold, or the chocolate was over-crystallized. pay close attention to temperatures when crystallizing the chocolate prior to working, and make sure the chocolate is tempered, but fluid when filling the molds.

good luck with the next batch!

[Kerry Beal]

I'm on a computer with a really tiny screen right now, so I can't clearly see, but from your description it sounds like the dust staying in the mold is what has caused the problem.

I've found that when you put dry dust into molds this is not an infrequent problem. You need to use a really thin layer of dust and make sure there are no clumps of dust, I use a nice plushy makeup brush and after phoofing the molds I turn them over and give them a bang to shake out any excess.

My preferred method is to mix the powdered colours with cocoa butter. I have better luck getting smooth finishes in the molds doing it that way.

[ejw50]

In Pierre Herme's book, he makes enrobed chocolates eith luster dust and acetate sheet covering. Even for PH, there are pits everywhere, I think that kind of thing is a definite issue when put the dust between the chocolate and the mold/sheet

I've taken to what Kerry does and mixed the dust with cocoa butter.

Another technique you can do is to dust them or tap on dust afterwards instead. I saw Fritz Knipschildt do this in his throwdown vs. Bobby Flay.

Edited August 12, 2008 by ejw50 (log)